Pioneer monument coming soon to Old Rock Church

By G. Christopher Terry

December 10, 2008 | PROVIDENCE -- A deal to turn the northwest corner of the Old Rock Church lot into a civic monument to Providence's pioneer ancestry is final, and Providence Pioneer Monument Inc.'s drive to raise $40,000 in private donations is halfway home. The monument will be dedicated at the sesquicentennial celebration in June, 2009.

The new monument is being constructed on the site of an earlier monument, which was constructed in 1947 and torn down in the late 1970s.

Dale Astle, city councilman and president of the non-profit pioneer monument corporation, said that restoring the monument on this site is personally important to him because, "I was raised in this town, I've been involved in the community, and I want to preserve its heritage. Providence is not just a bedroom community of Logan, it has its own traditions and identity which needs to be preserved."

Astle said he enjoyed playing on the old physical monument to Providence's unique identity as a youth. The two-term councilman's family moved to Providence in 1921, and Astle's grandfather commissioned a famous work of art depicting early pioneer life in Providence by Everett C. Thorpe. The painting is currently on loan to the Providence city offices, where it is on display. A reproduction is on display at the Rock Church.

Astle's non-profit is selling a limited supply of memorial bricks which will be used to pave the area in front of the monument, which will feature a bronze wagon wheel, commemorative plaque, and a time capsule to be opened in 2059. The engraved bricks are available for a $200 donation.

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